Cyclones enter bye week in familiar territory

AMES - Rewind to April.

Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads delivers his annual post-spring game address. Goal No. 1 each season, he repeats, is attaining bowl eligibility.

Fast forward to now. The Cyclones stand 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12 with three regular season games remaining and a second bye week looming.

Sound familiar? It does to Rhoads.

“All three years we've been 5-4,” said the third-year coach after Saturday's grinding, 13-10, win over Kansas. “We've got an open date and a chance to continue to improve our football team.”

Plain. Simple. Possible.

In Rhoads' rookie campaign, the Cyclones hit their magic number of six wins after enduring a blowout loss to then-No. 18 Oklahoma State. Last season, ISU nearly reached the bowl eligibility plateau right after rising to 5-4, but fell 31-30 in overtime to top-10 Nebraska - and ended the season with setbacks to unranked Colorado and top-15 Missouri.

What's new in 2011? The winding path to six wins is even more arduous.

Three top 20 teams stand in the way, beginning with the No. 2 Cowboys on Nov. 18 at Jack Trice Stadium.

“It's going to be a tough road,” said Cyclone quarterback Jared Barnett, who darted for 125 rushing yards Saturday, but turned the ball over twice. “We've got three really tough teams coming up. We've just got to continue to play, continue to be ready. I have faith in this team.”

Why not? Few expected ISU to thrash then-top 20 Texas Tech, 41-7, on the road two weeks ago. And after a brief, one-week stay on the favorites list, the Cyclones will again be heavy underdogs against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State.

“It kind of feels like the same situation as last year, going into the last three games,” said ISU running back James White. “Everybody's got a job on this team. We've just got to do our job.”

Two of the final three regular season games will unfold on the road (Oklahoma and Kansas State).

Somewhere in that mix must come at least one more win.

Plain. Simple. Hard.

“I won't have to chum the waters with that in mind,” said Rhoads, who is 1-0 all-time in bowl games as a head coach. “We've won two games in a row. And the Texas Tech game (a 41-7 win) was the most complete game we've had since we've been here. (The Kansas game) was a beautiful victory. We sat in here a year ago after this game and it's the same way. This was a great win for this team, this 2011 team. Now we've got a lot to continue to build on it. But they know where they're at. They knew where they were at when they were 3-4 and went to Lubbock and what they had to answer and work to accomplish. So I don't have any doubts I'm going to have a very focused team every day that we set about our business.”

From the off-season to November, goal No. 1 remains the same. And this week, injured starters such as offensive lineman Ethan Tuftee (torn meniscus) and free safety Jacques Washington (abdominal strain) can heal as they prepare for an all-out pursuit of it.

“We're going to have a lot of momentum coming out (of the bye week),” Barnett said. “We're really going to need the bye week because guys are banged up. Rest is critical.”